General Chat

Does anyone know if the cost of recharging and buying rechargeable batteries is actually cheaper than buying 20 batteries for a £1.00 in local shop?

I buy 3 packets per year so thats 60 batteries and use then for alarm clock, 2 wall clocks, 4 torches, xmas window lights and a few other things. I dont always use them all they last ages and in anycase little torches are only for power cuts so not used that often.
Family member insists that i get rechargeable batteries and a charger as that will save me lots of money and insists, I'm wasting money buying ordinary batteries.

So does the recharging use much energy and if say it takes 2 hours to recharge a battery, what would that cost I wonder? Also I always thought the rechargeable batteries were very expensive?

Anybody use rechargeable batteries? How long does the charge last as well?

Florence in the hebrides

Even with rechargeable ones wouldn’t you need to keep a few ordinary ones in case of a long power cut?

If you spend £3 a year on batteries how would that compare with the price of the number of rechargeable batteries you would need? Don’t forget that they have a life too.

Names, I personally think, my £3 a year is very cheap and also, if I needed a battery and had none charged that would be useless as would have to wait. Yes once charged, hoe long does that charge last?

I think to buy, they are expensive but I've never actually bought any. maybe someone on here has?

Our old phone base used to charge up batteries so we would swop betwen the phone and doorbell. However, we only knew the doorbell one had run out when people complained about not getting an answer at the door.

Our new base doesn't do that and we have wired our doorbell in.

I had a look on the Argos website and they seem to be around £15 for 4 with or without a charge base.

I bought four rechargeable when down in Cirnwall, they were AAs and cost me £8. However they remain unused as I bought them in error and whatever I needed batteries for didn't use rechargeable. (Not everything does. Are all your batteries the same size then Florence? I have to have AAs and AAAs. I think if you are going to get them at that price you are getting a a bargain. I would go on as you are

The first time you recharge them, it lasts as long as the original. Eventually though the recharge doesn't last as long, until it becomes impractical to keep trying and it is easier to buy new ones.

The actual cost of recharging is minimal, but in your case it sounds as though you are on to a good thing and you'd be lucky to find anything cheaper!

Generally speaking the only ones we have are those in "gadgets" that come with them installed, like mobile phones, laptops etc.

I use alkalines in clocks, remotes, door bell....rechargeables in my radio stuff and smoke alarms...

Florence I think your method is good for the price you pay....

a 2 hour charge is optimistic, I think ....its much longer than that....

OH has got one in his bath cushion. It's quite big, but if he lets it run almost down it takes at least 8 hours to recharge.

I think as AnnG says not every item will accept a rechargeable battery...you would think that a battery is a battery whether rechargeable or not but that isn't the case, so you need to keep that in mind too when making your decision :-)

Thankyou for all your comments.
I use both AA & AAA batteries and I really do think I have the best deal.
I suppose from a recycling point of view, recharging means less end up in landfill perhaps.

Florence in the hebrides

Several supermarkets have containers where you can leave batteries and they dispose of them for you.

Oh do they Andysmum, I never knew that?

Aldi, Tesco, Morrisons all do in my area.
Probably Lidl and the Co-op do too, but I can't remember.

If you sell batteries then, by law, you have to provide a recycling option ( don’t know about Scotland).

In England we are being reminded not to put ANYTHING with a battery in the general waste they can cause fires.

Tesco, Morrisons and the Coop all do here, and, like ArgyllGran, we are in Scotland. I didn't know it was a legal requirement, but the Coop has been doing it for years. They also recycle thin plastic, like the tops on packs of grapes and crisp packets.

I didn't know that about the thin plastic, Andysmum.

I always recycle plastic bags (bread bags, frozen veg bags, etc) at supermarkets, but I didn't know film was accepted too. Very useful to know!

OH likes packs of muesli, so every time we have an empty one it is used to put all other thin plastic in (anything too thin for the normal recycling bin) and I take it to the supermarket each week. I don't know about Tesco, but both the Coop and Morrisons have containers to put it in.

I googled battery recycling in Stornaway and the Coop, Tescos, Boots, Superdrug and a lighting company are all part of the recycling scheme.

Ty names, its been awhile since i have been to town, last year i think!

I thought it more likely that someone would be going into Stornaway than going to the tip :-D

We save ours up and either drop them in a shop collection point, either the local ironmongers or a supermarket. Our ironmongers will take in used strip lights as well.